Frank r



(No Model.)

P. R. WELTON.

CLOTHES DRIER.

Patented Dec. 24. 1889.

WIZWESSEQS N, PETERS. Phummm m nar. Washington (I. c.

UNITED STAT S PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK R. VVELTON, OF IVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE TUCKER MANUFACTURING COMPANY.

CLOTH ES-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,959, dated December 24, 1889..

Application filed August 26, 1889. Serial llo. 321,950. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK R. \VELTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVaterbury, in the county of New Haven andv State of Connecticut, have invented certain new an d useful Improvements inTowel-Racks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object the production of a towel rack or arm which shall be made entirely of metal, in which all of the arms maybe turned closely against the wall, and which shall consist simply of a basepiece, arms, and a spring for each arm, said parts being all formed complete previous to the operation of assembling, which consists simply of placing the parts together.

.VVith these ends in view I have designed the novel construction which I will now proceed to describe, referring by numbers to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective of my novel towelrack in use, a towel upon one of the arms bein g indicated by dotted lines; Fig. 2, a front elevation showing both arms as turned against the wall; Fig. 3, a back view of the base-plate without the arms, but showing one of the springs in the position it occupies when the parts are assembled; Fig. 4, a side elevation of a form especially adapted for use asa coat and hat hook; Fig. 5, a side elevation of a single towel-arm, and Fig. 6 a view of one of the springs detached.

1 denotes the base-plate, which is provided with suitable sockets 2, to receive the inner ends of the arms These sockets are made open at the back, as shown at Fig. 3, so that the base-plate, when made of cast metal, may be readily drawn from the sand, and also to permit the previously formed ends of the arms to be readily inserted therein. The base-plates are also provided with the usual screw-holes 4, for attachment in place. The arms are formed of wire of suitable size, the upper ends being preferably curved upward, as shown, and provided with ornamental knobs or balls 5. The inner ends of the arms are bent at right angles to the main portion, and the extreme ends thereof are then bent again parallel with the main portion, the vertical portion of the arms when in operative position being just sufficiently long to fit snugly in the sockets.

6 denotes springs curved slightly, as shown, which are adapted to be placed in the sockets back of the arms after the latter have been inserted. The springs are made longer than the openings in the back of the baseplate, and are provided with heads 7, which in use rest upon the tops of the sockets, as clearly shown.

The operation of assembling is simply to place the curved inner ends of the arms in the sockets, which is readily done, owing to the sockets being open at the back, and then forcing the springs downward in the sockets back of the arms, the lower ends of the springs passing down below the openings back of the sockets and resting upon the front of the baseplate, the heads of the springs resting upon the tops of the sockets and bearing against the base-plate.

WVhere a two-armed rack is required, it will be noticed (see Figs. 1 and 2) that the attaching end of the upper arm is bent downward and the attaching end of the lower arm is bent upward. This enables me to place the two arms at a suitable distance apart, to arrange the sockets compactly on the base-plate, and, furthermore, to permit both arms to be turned back close against the wall without the sli gh test interference with each other. In the form illustrated in Fig. A the construction is precisely the same, except that the lower end of the arm, instead of terminating just outside of the socket, is extended outward,then curved downward and upward again to form a suitable coat-hook. In the form illustrated in Fig. 5 a single socket only is formed upon the base-plate, the construction being the same as in the double form. It will of course be understood that the base-plates may be made of sheet metal, if preferred. I preferably, however, cast the base-plates as indicated in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A towel-rack consisting of a base-plate having sockets open at the back, arms the ends of which are curved at a right angle to the main portion and then outward again so as to engage the sockets, and springs lying in said sockets back of the arms, the upper ends thereof being provided with heads which engage the tops of the sockets, thereby retaining the springs in place and causing the arms to remain at any position in which they are placed.

2. Atowel-rack consisting of a base-plate having sockets open at the back, an upper arm the inner end of which is curved downward and then outward, and a lower arm the inner end of which is curved upward and then outward to adapt said ends to engage the sockets, and springs in said sockets back of the arms, so that said arms may be placed close against the wall in either direction and will remain at any desired position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FRANK R. XVELTON.

\Vitnesses: r

G. W. TUCKER, F. I. ROBERTS. 

